A groundbreaking ceremony took place Wednesday at the NEW Cooperative site in Cooper.

The event was to unveil a new substation that will be installed and operated by Midland Power Cooperative, which named the structure after a long-time board member and supporter of rural electric cooperatives, Ken Hastings. The substation will be 70-feet by 160-feet and includes five megavolt ampere transformer, four miles of power lines that are estimated to be $1.6 million and another $1.4 million for 4.5 miles of transmission line upgrades. Midland Power Cooperative CEO Bill McKim talks about partnering with another cooperative to be their power supplier for their expansion.

“So it’s really exciting. So one of the core seven principles of co-ops is co-ops helping cooperatives, and that goes way back to the founding of co-ops. So it’s exciting to see that come together. And then as a rural electric co-op, you’re always excited to see rural Iowa and agriculture move forward. And to be able to support that and be the power provider that’s helping to make that happen, we’re just honored to play that role.”     

The new substation will help to power NEW Cooperative’s 3 million bushel grain storage facility and 600,000 ton feed mill building, which Communications Director Gary Moritz said is the largest investment in the company’s history. 

Hastings was first elected to the Greene County Rural Electric Cooperative Board in 1966 and served as president in 1982. He then went on to serve as Midland Power’s representative on the Central Iowa Power Cooperative Board, and then on the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Board, where he served from 1990-2004. Hastings talks about serving on all of those boards and the experiences he had.

“And all those people, I can’t say there was a bad one in the whole bunch. That’s kind of the way this organization operates, that is you come from out here, I think something happens to you out here. You realize what’s good and what isn’t good. Thank you to the Board, and all of you guys, all of you are great.”

Midland Power’s upgrade is expected to be completed by this winter, with the transmission system upgrade to be done by the spring of 2022. The NEW Cooperative site will be operational by February of 2022.